Head Injuries

Head Injuries

Head injuries are one of the most common injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Your head, skull and face are used to protect your brain against injury. When a serious head injury occurs, it can result in a traumatic brain injury for the individual.

Even when there are no visible signs of an injury, a head injury can cause an individual to lose brain function. Trauma to the head can cause the brain to be directly injured, causing bleeding in the area surrounding the brain, bruising of the brain tissue or damage to the nerve connection inside the brain.

If you or a family member sustained a head injury in a car accident due to another driver’s negligence, you may be eligible to pursue legal action. Contact an experienced Mobile car accident lawyer to discuss your legal options.

Types of Head Injuries

Symptoms of head injuries vary by injury type. Listed below are some common head injuries sustained in Alabama motor vehicle accidents:

Skull Fractures

Skull fractures don’t always result in a brain injury. The location of the fracture and the amount of force in the injury determines whether the brain will be injured. Medical professionals classify skull fractures by location, what the fracture look like, and whether or not the bone has been pushed in. Skull fractures can be broken down into the following categories:

Open or Closed Fractures

Depressed Skull Fractures

Penetrating Skull Fractures

Linear or Stellate Fractures

Diastasis Fractures

Basilar Skull Fractures

Diffuse Axonal Injury or Shear Injury

When a head injury causes injury to the brain’s axons, it often ends with devastating results. Due to the damage of electrical flow between cells, the injury victim often looks comatose with no evidence of bleeding in the brain. Currently, there is no treatment for this type of injury. However, patients can receive support treatment. Medical professionals attend to the patient’s basic needs with hopes that the brain will recover by itself. Oftentimes, the brain does not recover.

Epidural Hematoma

When blood is trapped in a small area, causing the formation of a hematoma or blood clot, the head injury is considered epidural. Generally, pressure will increase quickly in the epidural space, pushing the blood clot in the brain, resulting in damage. Typically, most patients will need surgery to relieve pressure off of the brain.

Subdural Hematoma

When there has been forceful impact to the head, veins that cross through the subdural space can tear and bleed, causing a blood clot that puts pressure on the brain tissue. Subdural hematoma can occur at the injury site or at the opposite side of the injury. Surgery may be required to treat the injury, depending patient’s neurologic state.

Intracranial Bleeding

Any bleeding that occurs inside the skull is referred to as intracranial bleeding. Although a skull may be intact after an injury that does not mean that there is not any bleeding in or around the brain. Anytime an individual sustains a head injury they should seek medical attention to make sure there has not been any significant trauma.

At times, the terms hematoma, or blood clot, and hemorrhage, or bleeding, are interchanged. When there is blood inside the skull, blood can accumulate and cause pressure within and compress the brain. The skull has no space to accommodate swelling caused by bleeding.

Contact a Baldwin County Personal Injury Attorney

Head injuries can be expensive to treat and require a lengthy recovery period. If you or a loved one has suffered any type of head injury due to a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering. Contact a Mobile car accident lawyer today to begin exploring your legal options. During your initial legal consultation, an attorney will advise you on the best course of action to pursue after hearing about the circumstances regarding your injury.

The attorneys at Citrin Law Firm have the knowledge and experience to handle all types of auto accident claims. Over the years, their personal injury attorneys have helped clients receive favorable outcomes for their legal claims.

Citrin Law Firm is available to assist injured individuals in Mobile, Baldwin County and the surrounding areas.

To schedule a free and confidential case review, complete the contact form on this page.

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